THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

Book of Abstracts The CUNY Research Scholars Program

Spring 2019

Supported by

New York City College of Technology,

CUNY Research Office

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Student

Researchers

Faculty

Mentors

Department Project Title Page

Adewale

Adegbemigun

Prof. Sebastian

Morales

Entertainment

Technology

Schematic/3D Printing of

Bluetooth Speaker

4

Rafaela Alba Prof. Angran

Xiao

Mechanical

Engineering

Technology

A Case Study of Linkage

Synthesis for Robotic

Application

4

Fuxin Bao,

Adam

Brzozowski,

Raymond

Sandoval

Jelani Barro,

Demba Diop

Prof. Daeho

Kang

Environmental

Control

Technology

Measurement of Heat

Transfer Rate with

Outdoor Weather Station

4

Sultana Begum Prof. Farrukh

Zia

Computer

Engineering

Technology

3D Printed Computer

Circuits

5

Bill Chinskul Prof. Gerarda M.

Shields

Construction

Management

and Civil

Engineering

Impact of Sea Waves on

the Coast of New York

5

Juan Estrella Prof. Benito

Mendoza

Computer

Engineering

Technology

Using Augmented Reality

in Engineering Education

6

Deldrys Gomez

Reynoso

Prof. Ozlem

Yasar

Mechanical

Engineering

Technology

Mechanical

Characterization of Nano-

material Doped

Polydimethylsiloxane

(PDMS)

6

Conny Gordon

Edsel Torres

Prof. Tamrah D

Cunningham

Entertainment

Technology

Entertainment Connect 6

Nadia Gordon Prof. Urmi

Gosh-Dastidar

Prof. Janet

Liou-Mark,

Shamita Das

Dasgupta

Applied Mathematics

A Comparative Study of

Incidence of Domestic

Violence between

Immigrant and Non-

immigrant Women in

USA

7

Arash Izadi Prof. Adam J.

Wilson

Entertainment

Technology

Pitch Labelling of a

Corpus of Guitar Sounds

for Training a Neural Net

Pitch Classifier

7

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Mitchell

Landero

Prof. Ozlem

Yasar

Mechanical

Engineering

Technology

Gut Microbiome Analysis

of Arthropods

8

Jensy

Maldonado

Prof. Farrukh

Zia

Mechanical

Engineering

Technology

RoboQueen 3D 8

Dominika

Markowska-

Desvallons

Prof. Marcos

Pinto

Computer

Information

System

Stock Market Prediction

with Neural Network

8

Saminur Miah,

Khristian Lang,

Astrid Frank

Prof. Akm S.

Rahman

Computer

Information

Systems

Advanced Composites for

Structural and Biomedical

Applications

10

Patrice Prosper Prof. Masato

Nakamura

Mechanical

Engineering

Technology

Smart City Observatory 10

Galib Rahman Prof. Xiaohai Li Computer

Engineering

Technology

Smart IoT Sprinkler

System

10

Andrei

Statchevschi

Prof.

Muhammad A.

Ummy

Prof. Abdullah

Hossain

Electrical

Engineering

Technology

Interchangeable All

Fiber-Based Passive

VOA/VOC System

10

Szewai Michael

Tang

Prof. Ozlem

Yasar

Mechanical

Technology

Design and Fabrication of

UV Light Holder for

Photolithography

11

Syeda Tonni Prof. Farrukh

Zia

Architecture

Technology

Building Occupancy and

Environment Monitoring

System

11

Fox Williams Prof. Zhou

Zhang

Electrical

Engineering

Technology

Remote Control Car 12

Cheriyah

Wilmot

Prof. Phillip

Anzalone

Architectural

Technology

Solar Responsive Facade

in an Urban Environment

12

Xiaona Zhou,

Xiaolan Wu,

Swati Neogi

Prof. Urmi

Ghosh-Dastidar

Prof. Diana

Samaroo

Applied

Mathematics

Kinetic Study of Amine

Cured Epoxy Resins

12

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Schematic/3D Printing of Bluetooth Speaker Adewale Adegbemigun

Prof. Sebastian Morales

In 2019 purchasing a good looking, portable Bluetooth speaker is pretty costly and people from

the inner city usually purchase low quality sound devices because nobody wants to pay more than

$50 to listen to good music; and more times than not the device breaks because it is low quality.

For this reason I decided to create the foundation of my own homemade Bluetooth speaker with a

custom design in the shape of heart created by two music notes (for aesthetic purposes). The

purpose of this project is to show that music can be listened to at a low cost, with quality equipment

and can still look great. I created this by buying a few easy to build pieces like a Bluetooth receiver,

and a mini speaker along with a manual amplifier.

A Case Study of Linkage Synthesis for Robotic Application Rafaela Alba,

Prof. Angran Xiao

Roboticists often model movement in their machines after the natural movement of humans and

animals. The linkages used to transmit forces and motions in robots are usually designed with

inspiration from natural joints of humans and animals. The most commonly used linkage is the 4-

bar linkage, and because of its efficacy and simplicity it was chosen as the linkage for the “walking

motions” of a quadrupedal robot.

Designing a linkage from motion requirements, also called synthesizing, involves designing the

sizes of all the individual links and their topological structure. The input of the linkage that would

generate the motion in this linkage comes from a servo motor attached to the body of the

quadrupedal robot. Using Grashof’s Law, the input link’s ability to complete full rotational motion

was verified. The linkage was then designed using a CAD program, Fusion360, in which the

linkage can be moved, simulating the motion that would occur when actuated.

The robot will have four distinct 4-bar linkage with each leg moving along with the output link.

The input link was adapted as a spur gear so that the linkages for the front and back legs would be

joined by a gear train. This ensures that there will only be need for a total of two motors.

A motion analysis done in Fusion360, shows that there shouldn’t be any collisions during motion,

confirming that the design should work adequately. A prototype of the leg was printed to insure

that there wouldn’t be any problems in the lower half of the legs when it comes to creating enough

friction with the floor, since the knee is not motorized.

Measurement of Heat Transfer Rate with Outdoor Weather Station Fuxin Bao

Prof. Daeho Kang

The waste of energy has become one of the focuses of global attention. It is recognized that

effective and long-term control of energy use can significantly reduce the loss of the earth's

resources and economy. Energy control is reflected in many aspects, the most common being the

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efficiency of equipment and architectural design and material selection. Our study is intended to

contribute to such efforts.

We monitored the outdoor weather and the indoor thermal environment in the Environmental

building and Voorhees building. We analyzed the data collected to calculate heat transfer rate due

to unwanted air flow through the entrance doors. We also calculate the heat transfer rate by using

standard weather data measured by a local weather station. This poster presents the results of the

measurements and compares the calculated heat transfer rates by the weather data we collected

and the standard weather data.

3D Printed Computer Circuits Sultana Begum

Prof. Farrukh Zia

3D printing technology has rapidly become a mature technology due to the availability of low-cost

3D printers based on open source designs and components. A wide variety of 3D print materials

are now available with many different physical and electrical properties. This research project will

explore novel and innovative ways to use 3D printing technology to create electronic computer

circuits, sub-systems and devices by using a combination of conducting and non-conducting

materials and components. The 3D printed computer circuits will have a range of applications in

creating systems such as IoT (Internet of Things) devices, bio-sensors, wearable tech garments and

jewelry and robots.

Impact of sea waves on the coast of New York Bill Chinskul

Prof. Gerarda M. Shields

Over 1500 miles of the New York City region shoreline is vulnerable to accelerated sea waves and

rising sea level due to the anticipated climate change. In this phase of research is a study about the

impact and characteristics of sea waves on the coast of New York. As the impacts of climate

change accelerate over time, more damage, more flooding, and more erosion is likely in New York,

with sea levels continuing to rise and more of the most intense storms expected. The final phase is

about how to protect the coastline of New York from waves and sea level rise. In response to these

challenges, the City believes that it must bulk up its defenses, improving the coastline with

protective measures. This will not eliminate all flooding from all conceivable storms an impossible

goal but mitigate the effects of sea level rise where the risk is greatest and reduces the effects of

storm waves and storm flooding significantly.

in this career but does not know where to start. Based on the results, the project may branch to

other departments.

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On Using AI Bots for Voice Controlled Augmented Reality Applications Juan Estrella

Prof. Benito Mendoza

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to benefit society in the realms of medicine, security,

manufacturing, entertainment, marketing, and many others. One of the advances of AI is in the

field of Natural Language Processing and Speech Recognition; making computers understand what

humans say and mean. On the other hand, the term Augmented Reality (AR) refers to the

technologies that superimpose digital content generated by computers over the user’s view of the

real world. AR technologies enhance the version of the physical environment with computer-

generated sensory input such as sound, video, or graphics overlaid on top of the real-world view.

Our research project focuses on integrating AI with AR, specifically on using Speech Recognition

for controlling virtual AR objects to enhance the human-computer interaction. We present an

empirical study that compares currently available alternatives for creating an AI Bot to implement

voice controlled systems. We selected the alternative that meets the criteria of openness, usability,

and cost. Here, we present an application in which an online AI Bot process user’s commands to

control the behavior of cars in a virtual show room. The technology used by this application can

be used on a wide range of Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as monitoring systems,

entertainment, or commerce and advertising.

Mechanical Characterization of Nano-material Doped Polydimethylsiloxane

(PDMS) Deldrys Gomez

Prof. Ozlem Yasar

In recent years, Tissue Engineering is utilized as an alternative approach for the organ

transplantation. Success rate of tissue regeneration influenced by the biomaterials, cell sources,

growth factors and scaffold fabrication. Design and precise fabrication of scaffolds are required to

support cells to expand and migrate to 3D environment. At the SET Research Laboratory at City

Tech, pholithograpy and micro-molding techniques are used to fabricate the scaffolds. In this

project, dogbone shaped PDMS and PEGDA testers are fabricated at the Research Laboratory SET

in the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology. Then tensile tests are performed to

investigate the mechanical properties of the PDMS. Similar procedure will be repeated for the

nanomaterial doped PDMS and PEGDA to investigate the effects of nanomaterials on the

mechanical properties of PDMS and PEGDA.

Entertainment Connect Conny Gordon

Edsel Torres

Prof. Tamrah D Cunningham

In this study, we focus on seeing how well informed the students of the Entertainment Department

are on their major choice. A survey was conducted and given to both students and faculty members.

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For the fall semester the goal will focus on researching what the website should entail by polling

current students and faculty. For the spring semester, a trial website was created to run a usability

test to see if it succeeds with the students. The students were questioned on major choice, track

choice, knowledge of the career paths that this major can offer, job/internship opportunities, and

how they feel about the information that is provided by the school. The faculty is questioned on

their transition from student to employee to teacher. They were also questioned on their networking

opportunities and their best advice for the students. After gathering all data relevant to the study,

the construction of a resourceful website was developed. Entertainment Connection was created

to bring together old and new people of the industry and to inform anyone that might be interested.

A Comparative Study of Incidence of Domestic Violence between Immigrant

and Non-immigrant Women in USA Nadia Gordon,

Prof. Urmi Gosh-Dastidar

Prof. Janet Liou-Mark,

Shamita Das Dasgupta

Immigrant women in the USA come from various socio-economic, cultural, and religious

backgrounds. Some of these women suffer from domestic violence; however, due to their strict

cultural or social structure they often stay quiet and rarely report these incidents to the authorities.

Additionally, since these immigrant women face more challenges than their non-immigrant peers,

they are more reluctant or unlikely to leave their abusive partners. An analysis was completed

using published data as an attempt to establish if any statistically significant differences exist

between reported incidences among immigrant women and non-immigrant women. A chi-square

analysis (χ2 = 14.53; p-value = 0.0023 < 0.01) reveals that the variation of intimate partner violence

incidences among immigrant and native populations is too large to have occurred by chance alone.

Comparisons based on gender, marital status, and residency statuses are also studied.

Pitch Labelling of a Corpus of Guitar Sounds for Training a Neural Net Pitch

Classifier Arash Izadi

Prof. Adam J. Wilson

Our research involves developing a labelled corpus of monophonic guitar music suitable for use

in (1) training a neural network designed for classification of audio segments as pitched or un-

pitched, and (2) training a neural network designed to perform fundamental frequency estimation

of audio segments. In the course of producing this training set, we will develop a methodology for

combining automated and manual labelling techniques. We will investigate a variety of

computational approaches, in both frequency and time domains, for labelling note onsets and

fundamental frequencies. We will also employ manual approaches, marking audio features by

listening to and visually examining waveform segments.

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Degradation Rate Calculations of PEGDA

Mitchell Landero

Prof. Ozlem Yasar

In recent years, Tissue Engineering is utilized as an alternative approach for the organ

transplantation. Success rate of tissue regeneration influenced by the biomaterials, cell sources,

growth factors and scaffold fabrication. Design and precise fabrication of scaffolds are required to

support cells to expand and migrate to 3D environment. PEGDA is a bio-degradable and bio-

compatible material that is commonly used in Tissue Engineering field. In this research,

degradation rate of PEGDA will be investigated by dissolving the PEGDA within the water and

ethyl alcohol. And results will be compared to decide the degradation speed of engineered

scaffolds.

RoboQueen 3D Jensy Maldonado

Prof. Farrukh Zia

RoboQueen (Robotic Mannequin) is an ongoing research project in the Computer Engineering

Technology Department. Its goal is to create a semi-autonomous internet-connected remote-

controlled robotic mannequin to conduct research in several areas such as social robotics,

interactive storefront fashion display model and to teach computer hardware, software, networking

and mathematics concepts in various courses. In the current phase of the research project, some of

the RoboQueen hardware circuits and components will be improved and updated with the help of

3D printed electronic and embedded circuits and sensors. 3D printing technology has advanced to

the point where it is now possible to make composite circuits by mixing conducting and non-

conducting materials to make custom devices and circuits. These custom 3D printed devices and

circuits will be used to add more functionality and features to the RoboQueen project.

Stock Market Prediction with Neural Network Dominika Markowska-Desvallons

Prof. Marcos Pinto

Predicting the stock market is a complex mission to understand, especially for folks without any

financial background whatsoever. But being able to predict the future economy can be a huge

benefit to anyone’s financial situation. The idea is to create a tool, which would be able to envision

the stock price for the future by analyzing past trends. Using python, high-level programming

language, I am working on creating a model of an artificial neural network to predict stock market

prices. The neural network is being trained to recognize existing similarities in past stock market

data to be able to foresee the future of stocks. Furthermore, I will try to develop ideas which can

improve accuracy to over 99 percent. The neural network would be able to detect the market trend,

which would let us trade without dramatic errors, especially for folks as me, without financial

expertise.

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Advanced Composites for Structural and Biomedical Applications Saminur Miah, Khristian Lang, Astrid Frank

Prof. Akm Rahman

PLA Nanofiber is biodegradable material and useful in biomedical applications. However, PLA

nanofibers are weak in mechanical strength. Several efforts are on the way to improve mechanical

strength of PLA. The goal of this project is to evaluate mechanical strength of PLA using poly-

Imide in a form of composite blend. In addition to the mechanical strength, thermal and micro-

structural properties will be evaluated using TGA, DSC, TMA and SEM. The resultant

PLA/Polyimide composite will be useful in invasive biomedical structure.

The geopolymer will be prepared using Class F Fly ash, Metakaolin, Potassium Silicate and

potassium Hydroxide. Several filler materials including Rice Husk ash, Fumed Silica, Zirconium

oxide and Titanium oxide will be used in order to increase compression strength and reduce

porosities. The results from previous groups showed improved compression strength with Rice

Husk ash and Fumed Silica. Also, the results will be presented in terms of Compressive strength,

Flexural Strength, Fire test, Optical and Scanning Electron Microscope. Additionally, currently

we are still working on the research and its presentation through the website, which is being created

by one of the students.

Studies in order to evaluate mechanical and thermal properties in with more attention. The results

will be presented in terms of Compressive strength, Flexural Strength, Fire test, Optical and

Scanning Electron Microscope.

Smart City Observatory Patrice Prosper

Prof. Masato Nakamura

This project seeks to develop a better method to live stream Particulate Matter (PM2.5) data from

air quality sensors for public access. Currently the best format for doing so is by way of PHP and

MYSQL however, this requires internet access during the data collection process. Within the NYC

subway system, not all stations are equip with WIFI. Nodejs a JavaScript framework and package

manager; allows for swifter data transfer between server and client, without the need to Wifi

connection.

The New York City Panel of Climate Change (NPCC) proposed a Resilience and Monitoring

System (NYCLIM) to the NYC Mayor's office of Recovery and Resilience. This plan partners

scientists to decision makers, to improve energy and transportation sectors, with transparency of

data findings. The air quality within NYC Subways have been found to be saturated with PM2.5,

as discover in prior EESL research. The data needs to be made visible to NYC MTA, decisions

makers and the public.

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The methodology involves collecting underground subway air quality PM2.5 data using the

Adafruite air quality sensor which is connected to an Arduino Uno device. The Arduino Uno is

connected to a computer and data filtered through terminal is livestreamed using Web Sockets

(Socketio) and viewed in chart format on localhost.

The future goal of this project is to livestream the data to a local Sql or NoSql database and cloud

storage and remote accessibility. This will allow for complex statistic and graphical data analysis

and possible an open Application Programing Interface (API).

Smart IoT Sprinkler System Galib F. Rahman

Prof. Xiaohai Li

The average family spends more than $1000 in water costs per year. One-way water is commonly

wasted in many households is via inefficient sprinkler systems for lawns. Current technology has

enabled the development of automatic sprinkler systems, which can be preconfigured to operate at

desired times of day and intervals. Although these systems may reduce the amount of water utilized

overall, they are not weather forecast aware. In situations when rainfall is upcoming the systems

still water the lawn.

In this project, we plan to implement a smart sprinkler system that has full awareness of upcoming

weather and take account of environmental conditions in the past and present. We will utilize the

latest cloud computing technology and take account of environmental conditions to create a smart

dynamic watering solution. Our system will maximize the cost effectiveness and efficiency

regarding water utilization and flexibility.

Interchangeable All Fiber-Based Passive VOA/VOC System Andrei Statchevschi

Prof. Muhammad A. Ummy,

Prof. Abdullah Hossain

Variable optical couplers (VOC) and variable optical attenuators (VOA) play essential roles in

optical communications. VOCs serve to couple or decouple optical beams while VOAs attenuate

the optical power of signals; both devices do so with a variable and adjustable ratio. VOCs

typically have a single input with multiple output while VOAs have both single input and output.

The goal of our research endeavor is to implement a novel design which combines both the above

functionalities into one system and characterize said system. The two components that makes this

hybridization of two devices into one and switchable operation (coupling and attenuating) possible

are a circulator and Sagnac Loop Mirror (SLM). Such components dictate the number of output

ports in use (to switch between VOC and VOA modes) and the variable coupling and attenuating

ratio. This novel design however requires the fabrication of a novel optical circulator; a circulator

is a three-port device which accepts input beam from one port and transmits an output to another

port; any input beam injected from the output port will be forwarded to a third port. The new

fabricated circulator we are interested in acquiring does the above with one exceptional difference:

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any input coming from the third port will be forwarded to the second port to create an oscillation

between the two ports. This is vital to the overall design of the system. The SLM contains a

polarization controller which manipulates the reflectivity and thus the overall coupling or

attenuation ratio of the system; in simpler terms, it controls how much light exits from any single

port. The system does not require external power to function and can simply be attached to any

optical source as a stand-alone device.

Design and Fabrication of UV Light Holder for Photolithography Szewai Michael Tang

Prof. Ozlem Yasar

In recent years, Tissue Engineering is utilized as an alternative approach for the organ

transplantation. Success rate of tissue regeneration influenced by the biomaterials, cell sources,

growth factors and scaffold fabrication. Design and precise fabrication of scaffolds are required to

support cells to expand and migrate to 3D environment. At the SET Research Laboratory at City

Tech, pholithograpy is used to fabricate the scaffolds. Main components of the pholithography are

“photo-curable material” and an “elevator system”. In current scaffold fabrication set-up at SET,

only 2D scaffolds are generated due to the lack of an elevator stage. In this research, to carry the

scaffold fabrication from 2D to 3D, elevator stage is designed and fabricated. Our preliminary

research showcases that scaffolds can be successfully fabricated with the use of elevator system.

Building Occupancy and Environment Monitoring System Syeda Tonni

Prof. Farrukh Zia

Energy efficient smart buildings require building occupancy and indoor air quality measurement

systems to reduce energy consumption of building control systems such as air conditioning and

lighting. A variety of methods have been proposed in the past such as passive infrared (PIR)

sensors and ultrasonic motion detectors. A significant challenge in the implementation of these

systems is the high cost and complexity of data communication system to gather data from

occupancy sensors. In this research project, low-cost data communication system consisting of

inexpensive open source hardware and software components will be designed, implemented and

tested in a sequence of three phases. Phase one consists of designing low cost 3D printed units

containing sensors and wireless circuits. Phase two involves the implementation of wireless data

communication and data collection system. In phase three of the project, complete system will be

tested and evaluated to measure building occupancy and indoor air quality in real time.

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Remote Control Car Fox Williams

Prof. Zhou Zhang

As one of the popular projects of Robotics, the remote control (RC) car dominates the practical

implementation in nearly all Robotics classes at colleges. However, the current design of the RC

car has three disadvantages (1) The chassis is brittle for bumping and crashing, (2) Wireless

communication is not stable since it is vulnerable to environmental disturbances, and (3) The

batteries are not a stable power source unit (PSU) for the RC car. To overcome these shortcomings,

the chassis was outsourced by Elegoo. The implementation of 3D printing for the chassis would

enhance its durability and allow it to be driven into objects to test its parameters. Their design

allowed the chassis to be sturdy, resulting in little to no damage when the RC car bumped or

crashed into objects. To stabilize communication, Elegoo also provided the signal processing

circuit and digital filter, which depresses any environmental disturbances. To stabilize the PSU, a

low pass filter was added to the battery. Its addition stabilized the PSU by blocking out all high

frequency created by the batteries. By implementing additive manufacturing, signal processing

circuits, digital filters, and low pass filters, the RC car performed as expected. The 3D printed

chassis didn’t break when it bumped and crashed into object. The signal processing circuit and

digital filter allowed the RC car to operate without any disturbances affecting the signal.

Additionally, the low pass filter blocked any high frequency voltage fluctuations from the batteries.

The success of this project will benefit CUNY students in future Capstone projects and provide

potential solutions to industrial problems related to Robotics.

Solar Responsive Facade in an Urban Environment Cheriyah Wilmot

Prof. Phillip Anzalone

Due to the high energy consumption in cities like New York, I am designing a shading system to

be retrofitted on an existing façade that responds to external thermal conditions. I’ve

conceptualized the functions of the shading system to either block/allow sunlight and analyzed its

effectiveness in terms of energy use and illuminance in comparison to the modeled office space.

Materials will be explored as well as how it’ll function in the future.

Kinetic Study of Amine Cured Epoxy Resins Xiaona Zhou, Xiaolan Wu, Swati Neogi

Prof. Urmi Ghosh-Dastidar

Prof. Diana Samaroo

The epoxy resin is a class of polymer containing more than one epoxy group (or cyclic ether) and

featuring a broad range of applications in the field of paints and coatings, adhesives, electronics.

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With utilization of different curing agents including amines, amides, acid anhydrides, phenols and

metal oxides, epoxy resins can be hardened via curing reactions. Owing to their excellent

mechanical, electrical properties, chemical stability and extensively industrial applications, many

chemists have been interested in studying the curing kinetics of epoxy resins. However, one of the

major challenges towards the kinetic studies of epoxy resins curing is the high-cost of laboratory

simulation of epoxy resins formations. The construction of computer-simulating kinetic models

are not only significant to overcome this challenge but also to optimize a better chemical

environment and experimental parameters, which ultimately contribute to the success in formation

of desired epoxy resin products. Our research focuses on establishing a suitable kinetic models to

better study the curing reaction of epoxy resins. Presently, we are working on identifying potential

proposed kinetics models based on mathematical analysis on experimental data. Future work will

focus on using the functionality and accuracy of the proposed kinetics models to predict both the

degree of cure and rate of cure qualitatively and quantitatively.